Friday (4/29): High School Track Preview
Nick Dhal of Germantown Friends' will hope to help his team to the CoA on Saturday (Photo by Ethan Rissell)
High School Boys' 4x800 Small Schools - Event 302 (Friday, 9:20 AM)
Bishop Shanahan and Bonner & Prendie will compete Friday morning in the first section of the small school 4x800.
Shanahan went sub-8 at indoor states, clocking a 7:59.61 to grab some sixth place medals. Most recently, the ran a 8:07.84 for the win at the Warrior Invitational at Henderson last week for a PA#17
Bonner & Prendie sits at PA#18, just .10 off Shanahan's time. They ran that at the Jim Kelly a few weeks back. Led by Sean Sullivan, they could pull of a nice race on Friday morning. Look for these PA squads to run together and push each other.
High School Boys' 4x800 Small Schools - Event 303 (Friday, 9:30 AM)
Germantown Friends', the current PA#2, leads the way in the second section of the small schools 4x800. GFS got off to a good start, running 7:57.09 at the Colonial Relays in Virginia to open up its season. They'll look to follow suit and improve on that time to get themselves into the Championship of America on Saturday.
Penn Wood is the other PA team in that field. They have a nice stock of athletes that could contend. A few are coming off injury, but have looked strong in the early going this season.
Alex Milligan and State College will be on of the top teams to watch in the 4x800 (Photo by Patty Morgan)
High School Boys' 4x800 Large Schools - Event 304 (Friday, 9:40 AM)
State College, Central Bucks West, Central Bucks East, and Upper Dublin are the PA entries in the first section of the boys large school 4x8s. State College is coming off a great indoor season where they won the Millrose Games 4x800, the indoor state championship, and then finished third at NBNI running a best time of 7:45.60. They ran 8:05 in a dual meet last week, and, after a good week of individual performances, seemed primed for a big effort on Friday to launch them into the Championship of America.
CB West took second to State College at indoors states and the Bucks are another serious threat for the finals. CB East had an impressive victory in early April at the Council Rock Kiwanis Invitational. They got a nice anchor from Jake Brophy there. Brophy will have a 3000m later in the day, but knowing Brophy, he'll invest all he has to try and help his team advance first and foremost. Upper Dublin has run 8:05 this season and sits at PA#8.
High School Boys' 4x800 Large Schools - Event 305 (Friday, 9:50 PM)
In the second section we've got Abington, North Penn, LaSalle, and Council Rock North repping PA.
Abington is PA#3 and they been nothing but consistent in the early going this season. They ran 7:57 on two occasions. They'll definitely be a contender for one of the spots in the CoA.
North Penn battled well with Abington a few weeks ago at their home invitational. They sit at PA#4 right now after an 8-flat performance on that day. They could step up in a big way on Friday morning. LaSalle boasts some good depth, having run 8:04 in its season opener in Virginia, while Council Rock North is another deep team. The Indians could use a strong leg from Bryan Keller, who has really broken out recently.
High School Girls' 4x800 Championship of America Presented by Grace Foods - Event 337 (Friday, 1:10 PM)
Qualifiers:
1. Western Branch, VA, 9:10.39
2. Shenendehowa, NY, 9:11.03
3. Penn Wood, PA, 9:12.07
4. E.C. Glass, VA, 9:12.60
5. Edwin Allen, JAM, 9:12.65
6. Mamaroneck, NY, 9:13.5
7. North Penn, PA, 9:13.59
8. Holmwood Tech, JAM, 9:15.15
9. Long Beach Poly, CA, 9:15.95
10. Bronxville, NY, 9:17.93
11. West Springfield, VA, 9:18.14
12. Cardinal O'Hara, PA, 9:18.84
High School Girls' 4x100 Championship of America Presented by Grace Foods - Event 343 (Friday, 2:25 PM)
Qualifiers:
1. Holmwood Tech, JAM, 45.64
2. Edwin Allen, JAM, 45.79
3. Nansemond River, VA, 46.55
4. Excelsior, JAM, 46.55
5. St. Catherine, JAM, 47.08
6. St. Augustine, BAH, 47.17
7. Green Island, JAM, 47.18
8. Cheltenham, PA, 47.38
High School Girls' 4x400 Championship of America Presented by Grace Foods - Event 365 (Friday, 4:20 PM)
Qualifiers:
1. Bullis School, MD, 3:46.31
2. Holmwood Tech, JAM, 3:46.58
3. Union Catholic, NJ, 3:46.85
4. Nansemond River, VA, 3:46.87
5. Edwin Allen, JAM, 3:48.07
6. St. John's College, DC, 3:48.98
7. St. Elizabeth Tech, JAM, 3:50.19
8. Paul Robeson, NY, 3:50.54
Cardinal O'Hara will look to follow up its big DMR win at indoor states with a big performance at Penn (Photo by Don Rich)
High School Boys' Distance Medley Championship of America Presented by Independence Blue Cross - Event 375 (Friday, 5:55 PM)
Certainly a lot of eyes will be on Friday evening's boys' DMR, and that's mainly because of Drew Hunter, the Loudoun Valley (VA) senior and sub-4 miler. Hunter will look to supply a fast anchor leg on Friday to help his team to victory. Can anyone stop them? Well, it's possible. River Dell (NJ), Fordham Prep (NY), Concord-Carlisle (MA), and Haddonfield (NJ) all bring in strong teams that will attempt to challenge Hunter and his Loudoun Valley team.
From PA, the lone representative is Cardinal O'Hara, the state champions from indoors. They pulled off a 10:24.52 for the state victory and they'll look for a great effort on Friday. They'll likely be bookended by Rob Morro and Ryan James, two very strong and capable runners.
Jaxson and Josh Hoey will contest the mile at Penn Relays (Photo by Patty Morgan)
High School Boys' Mile Run Championship - Event 376 (Friday, 6:10 PM)
Pennsylvania boasts four very strong runners in what should be an excited boys' mile. Downingtown West's Jaxson Hoey has the strongest resume of the bunch, winning the outdoor 1600 AAA state title last year and then the mile state title indoors. Hoey has seen some strong competition indoors and leading into his outdoor season and should be ready to let it loose on Friday.
Seneca Valley's Mike Kolor, too, has seen his fair share of good competition after a big indoor season. He ran 4:13.50 at indoor nationals, and mot recently won handily at Butler with a 4:15.04 to open up his outdoor season. The fitness appears to be there for a big race out of Kolor.
Nick Dahl of Germantown Friends showed off his fitness level last week, running 1:54.20 for the win at Henderson. He'll have 4x800 commitments earlier in the day, but have a solid many hours to rest up before the mile.
Josh Hoey of Downingtown West is also in the field. The talented sophomore has had a nice start to his outdoor season, running a 1:54.11 in the 800. He was second to his brother at indoor states and Josh could be in line for a big race come Friday.
Noah Affolder (NY) heads the strong field along with Brandon Tubby (NJ). Overall, it's a fairly open race and one of the Pennsylvania guys could come away on top.
Lake Lehman's Dominic Hockenbury will look for a big race in the 3000m (Photo by Don Rich)
High School Boys' 3000m Championship Presented by Clear Channel - Event 377 (Friday, 6:15 PM)
Like the mile, PA got three entries in the 3000. At the head of the class is Central Bucks East's Jake Brophy. Brophy will be racing the 4x800 earlier in the day, but he's proven to be a strong competitor over the years. He has the experience, taking third in the race last year. Brophy prepared for this sort of double back at Council Rock North, earlier this month. There, he anchored the East 4x800 winning the 300 in 8:54.
Lake Lehman's Dominic Hockenbury has proven to be in good shape in the early going. He's a dark horse threat of sorts, and it will be interesting to see him match up in this race after running a 1600 and mile to open p this outdoor season.
JP McCaskey's Nathan Henderson has really come into his own as of late. After a great run at indoor states, Henderson started off his outdoor season with a monster effort for the win over 1600 meters at Hempfield. He'll look to translate that into a big effort Friday evening. Methacton's Jeff Kirshenbaum is one to watch, too. He's laid low to start off this outdoor season (appearing in some relays at the PA Track Classic), but we'll see what he brings to the table at Penn.